Kingdom of Paradise

Spiffy:

Iffy:

The combat may feel too simple over extended play.

The American PSP isn't exactly awash in quality RPGs, and Sony, quite understandably, is looking to change that. One of its first attempts to fill this gap will be the soon-to-be-released Kingdom of Paradise. Developed by Climax (the infamous Japanese studio behind the seminal LandStalker, not the British Climax), Kingdom of Paradise combines traditional Eastern aesthetics with a fast, breezy, decidedly action-centric combat system.

Kingdom puts you in the role of Shinbu, a young outcast who's training himself in his world's five fighting disciplines. As it turns out, each style originated with a certain clan, and the five clans gathered together 300 years ago to seal away an ultimate weapon. However, a wizard is seeking to break that seal, and the five clans are too splintered to mount any resistance. Shinbu, then, decides he will master all five disciplines himself to renew the seal and thwart the sorcerer. Oh, and he's avenging his parents too. Good son, that Shinbu.

Another Day in Paradise

Once the game starts you're free to walk around an expansive 3D world. Walking is pleasant -- Shinbu is quite fast. Locations like towns are rendered in polygons and look quite nice. While the viewpoint is low and close to the ground, there is no camera control system, so the viewpoint never rotates or does anything confusing to muck up the controls. Thus it feels very much like a classic action / RPG, only rendered in 3D.

Once out of town, Shinbu will have to watch his back, as the world is teeming with bandits and other nasties. Enemies appear right in the world, with no loading or transitions. Combat is mostly a matter of tapping the circle button, which causes Shinbu to let loose with whatever sword combos he's got on deck. If Shinbu has a companion they'll join in too, controlled entirely by AI. As a whole, the combat is smooth as silk, though it's unclear just how deep it'll get.